The Worst Job That a Doctor has to Do!
by islashlove
Summary: After treating the injured from a fire in a fireworks factory, Jesse has to deliver some bad news to Mark. But when Mark refuse to accept what he is told and what he can see is the truth, his friends fear the worst. And that worst is that Mark is going crazy with grief. Warning: An out of character, Mark Sloan and possibly dark themes
1. Is to Tell a Father, Their Son is Died

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is from Diagnosis Murder. **

**Warning: An Out OF Character, Doctor Mark Sloan and possibly some very dark themes. **

**Beta: Yes, I would like to say thank you to my Beta jerseybelle**

**Author's Notes: ****This story is the response to a one word challenge from the Facebook group Fanfiction .net Writer's Unite. The word this week is Fireworks****.**

**Story Notes: After treating the injured from a fire in a fireworks factory, Jesse has to deliver some bad news to Mark. But when Mark refuses to accept what he is told and what he can see is the truth in front of him, everyone fears the worst. And that worst is, Mark Sloan is going crazy with grief, but is he?**

**The Worst Job That a Doctor has to do!**

**Chapter 1: Is to Tell a Father, Their Son is Dead.**

The ER had been hectic. The number of injured had outweighed the number of hospital staff three to one, which had left people tripping over each other's feet and Jesse had been in the middle of it all.

The fireworks factory on the edge of town had caught on fire and workers and rescuers alike, had been brought in. Never in his job had Jesse seen so many different injuries caused by the same thing. Most had been simple burns, others cuts and scrapes from trying to escape, but unfortunately, some hadn't got out alive either.

It was because of one of these last victims that we find Jesse wandering down the hallways of Community General heading to Mark's office.

Mark had been in surgery when the ambulances had arrived and was still there when the last body was brought in and Jesse himself had taken it down to the morgue and to Amanda.

He could still see the devastation in her eyes when she realised who it was. She even offered to go with Jesse to tell Mark, but Jesse wouldn't let her. He needed to do this himself. So when a nurse told him that Mark was back in his office, Jesse hugged Amanda and left.

Standing outside Mark's office door, Jesse took several deep breathes to calm his nerves. Knocking, he waited for Mark to tell him he could enter. No matter how long it could have taken for Mark to answer, it would not have been long enough for Jesse because he really didn't want to enter, but he did.

"Jesse, is something wrong?" Mark asked confused at why Jesse knocked instead of just entering.

"Mark, I...do you know that we had a rush on the ER earlier?"

"I heard that you did. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes please. You see, I..." Jesse looked down at the floor as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"You knew some of those that didn't make it?"

Jesse just nodded his reply. He knew if he said something right now, he would lose it. Finally looking back up, he was seeing Mark through tear filled eyes.

"Sit down, Jesse," Mark said as he, too, sat down. Jesse did as he was told. "You know that in the ER you are going to see people you know go through there. After all, how many times has it been Steve and you know that sometimes that you're not going to be able to save them all

"I know that, Mark, and it's not anyone that comes in and that was lost afterwards. It was one that come in already..." Jesse turned his head away, no longer able to look at Mark's, compassion filled face. "They were the last to come in and I even took them down to Amanda myself and..."

"Jesse, were you close to this person?"

"Yes," Jesse said looking back up at Mark. "We all were. Mark, I'm...so sorry. It was...Steve."

Jesse watched as Mark's face changed. Not to shock or horror like he expected it to, but to anger.

"Get out, Jesse!" Mark shouted.

"Mark, please..."

"How dare you came in here and joke around like that. It's not funny." Mark was now standing over Jesse and Jesse was scared. He knew that Steve is Mark's son, but did he really think that he would joke about Steve dying. "I said get out!"

Jesse scrambled out of Mark's office and away from his friend. He had never seen Mark that angry and that worried Jesse even more. He ran, tears falling down his eyes, until he reached the morgue and Amanda.

"Jesse?" Amanda said when she saw the fear in Jesse's blood shot eyes.

"Mark...he...thinks I'm lying, that...I'm making some sort of sick joke. He's angry, Amanda. Angry at me and I ..."

"Jesse, it will be fine." Amanda put a comforting arm around Jesse's shoulders and walked him into her office. "Just rest in here. We just need to let Mark calm down."

"Okay," Amanda gave Jesse one more tender pat on the back before she returned to her work.

It wasn't too long before Mark walked in. Amanda could see that he was still angry and had a hauntingly lost look in his eyes.

"Mark, I'm sorry."

"No, not you too, Amanda. Please, tell me this is a joke." But Mark could see in her eyes, the same look Jesse had in his and Mark knew it was him, not them, that didn't want to believe it was true. "Can...can I see him?"

"Mark, I...I'm waiting on Chief Masters to arrive."

"Why, what for?"

"Because she thinks your son might have been murdered."

Mark turned around to find Chief Masters standing there. He then turned back to Amanda.

"Amanda?"

"I've found evidence that Steve might have been stabbed, but because I'm so close to him, I've requested for the crime labs to send down their own to do the autopsy. I'm sorry, Mark, I just can't do it and risk..."

"It's alright, Amanda; but can I still see him?" Mark turned back to Chief Masters. "Please?"

The Chief Just nodded and Amanda walked over to the drawer with Steve's body in it and as she went to open it, Jesse exited Amanda's office to see what was happening. But when Amanda pulled the drawer out, they all got a shock at Mark's next words.

"That's not Steve."

They all stared at him. There on the drawer was Steve's body.

"Mark..." Jesse started to say, before Mark cut him off.

"That's Harry, Steve's twin!"

The silence of shock filled the air of the morgue and thoughts of _'if this is Harry, where's Steve'_, filled their minds.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	2. Is this Steve or Harry?

**Chapter 2: Is this Steve or Harry?**

Everyone was shocked at Mark's words. Never had Mark or Steve ever mention that Steve had a brother, let alone a twin. Amanda was the first to recover.

"Mark, honey! Are you alright?"

Mark looked at Amanda. She could see confusion and relief in his eyes, but not sadness. Why isn't he sad? Even if this isn't Steve, it was still his son. She watched as he took a deep breath.

"Yes, yes, Amanda, I'm fine."

"Doctor Sloan." Chief Masters' voice seemed so distant. "I'm sorry to ask this, but...how do you know that this isn't your son, Steve?"

"Because it's Harry."

"Mark, if Steve and Harry are twins and identical twins at that, how do you know that this one is Harry and not Steve? I mean, I don't want it to be Steve, but...?"

"I just know, Jesse. A father just knows." Mark looked back at Harry's body, before walking over to the drawer. "Harry, I never got to know you and I'm sorry about that," Mark said to the body that was lying there. He then turned to face Chief Masters. "Chief, you will find who killed Harry and where Steve is, won't you?"

"We will do our best, Doctor Sloan. Doctor Bentley, I need a full autopsy and blood analysis done."

"Of course, Chief Masters," Amanda answered. She was confused; except for...whoever was in the drawer, she was the one that knew Mark the longest and in all those years, never did Mark or Steve mention that Mark had another son.

"I've got to go and do my rounds," Mark suddenly said. "Amanda, can you please let me know what you find?"

Amanda didn't get a chance to answer, because Mark was already out the door.

"Well, that was strange."

"Yes, Jesse, it was. Chief Masters, do you want me to run a DNA test as well?"

"And dental check and ring me with the results before anyone else."

Amanda nodded her understanding and then Chief Masters also left. "Do you want to help me, Jesse?" Jesse looked at Amanda with eyes wide open. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Swallowing, he nodded at her. "Good, you can draw the blood." she said handing him a very big syringe.

Amanda went over everything. The hair, every inch of skin, noting every mark on the body. Some of the wounds were fresh; after all, he had just been caught in the full force of an explosion. But from what she could see, every mark on the body matched those that Steve had.

With every second that passed, with every test, it looked like this wasn't Harry on the slab, but Steve. After all, what's the chance of this Harry having the same marks on his body that Steve had. It was nearly impossible.

It was a good two hours before she was ready to put the body back in the freezer. Now all she needed to finalise her report was the toxicology and DNA results, but Amanda had a funny feeling she was sure what they were going to say and that it was her friend Steve who was in the freezer.

Amanda was right, the DNA test results were conclusive and it was Steve.

"A...Amanda," Jesse's voice sounded scared.

"Yes, Jesse."

"I did a check."

"A check? On what, Jesse?"

"On Harry or rather the fact that there is no Harry."

"What?"

"Mark and his wife only had two children, Steve and Carol. Steve wasn't a twin and there were no other kids."

"I'm not surprised. The autopsy and all the test results says that this is Steve, too."

"But, Mark, he...he was so sure."

"It's the grief, Jesse. Mark's mind won't let him believe that Steve is dead, so it made up another son. One that he wasn't close to."

"I know that make sense, but at the same time, so stupid. What can we do for Mark?"

"We just have to wait and be there for him when he is ready to accept that Steve is dead."

"Steve is what?" Amanda and Jesse turn to find Mark standing in the doorway. Anger, burning in his eyes. "That's not Steve in there, Amanda," Mark said as he pointed at the freezer. "It's Harry."

"Mark, I checked, there was no Harry born. Steve was your only son."

And the test results all ..."

"I don't care about what the reports have to say or your tests, Amanda. That is not Steve and if you won't look for him, I will."

The two stunned friends just stood there as Mark stormed off. They had never see Mark like that before. Amanda just hoped that they wouldn't lose their good friend to the madness that grief can sometimes bring.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	3. Alone With His Thoughts

**Chapter 3: Alone With His Thoughts**

Mark sat in the darkness of his office at the hospital. He was angry at Amanda and Jesse for what they had said. He was worried as to where Steve was and if, with Amanda's report, anyone would be looking for him.

_'Why? Why can't they listen to me about Harry? I'm not mad and yes, I can see why they are confused, but they had always trusted my judgement before. So why would this time be any different.' _Suddenly Mark is brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his door.

At first he was going to tell whoever it was to enter, but right now he didn't want to see anyone, so he closed his mouth and stayed quiet. He could hear whoever it was shifting around outside the door. After the third knock, Mark heard Amanda.

"Mark, I know you are in there. Look, I'm sorry, but you know I have to follow the findings and they all point to it being Steve in my lab. Please, if you have anything, anything at all, that could change the results, tell me. I don't want it to be Steve either. Please, just talk to me."

Mark didn't move, he wasn't sure if what he had to say would make any sense to her anyway and it was evident she had already made up her mind.

"Mark, please ..." After trying the handle and finding it locked, Amanda left.

Mark let out a silent sigh. Turning on the desk lamp, he started to fill in the application to take time off. Once Amanda's report was done, no one would be looking for Steve and Mark couldn't have that and he would do whatever he had to do to find Steve.

"Well?" Jesse asked as Amanda walked back into the lab. She just shook her head.

"He's in his office, I'm sure of that, but he wouldn't talk to me. I guess we just need to give him some space."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Jesse. Everything says that this is Steve, but Mark...he is so sure that it isn't."

"What's your gut feeling, Doctor Bentley?"

Turning, both Jesse and Amanda found Chief Masters standing in the doorway.

"To be honest, Chief Masters, I don't know. Mark has never been wrong before, but this time, I...I really don't know."

"Then follow the evidence and give me the report to that fact."

"Does that mean that Steve is officially dead?"

"For now!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means, Doctor Travis, unless something else turns up, we treat this as we see it. Someone murdered Detective Steve Sloan and we need to find his killer. But if, for some reason, more information comes in and tells us that, in fact, that isn't Detective Sloan, we will then follow where the new evidences will take us."

Both doctors nodded their understanding before Chief Masters walked out. Amanda then went about finalising her report and Jesse headed out to finish off his rounds. He just hoped that if they have lost Steve, that they haven't also lost Mark, as well.

Mark stood in front of Doctor Madison Wesley and handed her the form.

"Mark, What's this?"

"It's my application for time off, so I can go out and find my son."

Madison could hear the anger in Mark's voice. Somehow it didn't sound right. She had heard about Steve and of course, she was going to give him time off, he needed it to grieve. But, WHY he claimed he needed it off, worried her.

"Mark, I know how close you and Steve were and ..."

"WERE? Don't you mean that Steve and I ARE close? Steve isn't dead. That is his brother in the morgue and I'm going to find Steve and prove that."

"Mark, I ..."

"If you won't give me the time off, you can consider that application as my resignation letter." And before Madison could say anything Mark stormed out of her office.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	4. Four Friends Talk

**Chapter 4: Four Friends Talk**

That evening found Jesse, Amanda, Madison and Chief Masters sitting around a table at BBQ Bob's.

"Mark really said that?" Jesse asked with his eyes wide open in shock.

"I'm afraid so. If I didn't give him the time off, which I was going to give him anyway, Mark said that I could consider the application for leave as his resignation letter. I just didn't know what to say, but then again, Mark didn't give me any time to reply anyway."

"Ok, disregarding all the evidences that says that it is Steve in my lab and if there is no record of this Harry, how can Mark be so sure that it's not Steve."

"Because, if Steve was the first born and Harry was second, but a stillborn, the hospitals back then didn't always keep the record of the dead child. Especially, if the parents requested it."

The three doctors just stared at the Chief of Police.

"How do you know that?" Amanda asked, voicing the thoughts of the other two at the table.

"I worked a case when I was younger. A suspect swore, black and blue that he hadn't killed anyone. Turned out, he had a twin, but he knew nothing about them. It took a lot of investigation to finally get the truth from an old retired nurse. Apparently, they would fake the death of a twin and have the parents not report the birth of the child they had thought they had lost. The child was then taken to the other side of the country and adopted out, for a very nice fee."

"And you think this might be what happened to Mark and his wife and where this Harry comes from?" Madison asked, shocked that anyone would do such a thing.

"It's possible," Amanda whispered. "It was found out not that long ago, children from England that were thought to have been killed in the war, but were found alive and living in Australia. They had been told their parents were dead and the parents, if they returned to get their children, were told that the child had died."

"But, why didn't Mark just tell us?" Jesse asked, sounding a little hurt that Mark didn't trust them.

"Maybe...Jesse, he feels guilty. It's an easy guess that somewhere along the line, he found out that Harry was alive and well...you know how proud Mark is."

"You're right, Amanda, but we still have the problem of all the evidence pointing towards that being Steve in the morgue," Madison added.

"Whoever set this up, Doctor Wesley, knew what they were doing and all it would've taken was to get their hands on Steve's medical history," answered Chief Masters.

"What do we tell Mark?" Jesse asked hoping that Mark would forgive them all for doubting him.

"Nothing!"

"What!" Jesse said as he slapped his hands on the table in front of him. "How can we leave Mark thinking we doubt him?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor Travis, but we can't risk Doctor Sloan knowing what we think is going on here."

"Why not?" Amanda asked, as she too was just as confused as Jesse.

"Because we think that the person or persons that are doing this might go after Doctor Sloan as well and ..."

"And you want Mark as bait," Madison added.

"Yes, we are hoping that they may go after him and lead us to Sloan and the others that have gone missing over the last six months."

"That...that's just wrong."

"I need you to promise me, Doctor Travis, that you won't tell Doctor Sloan what's going on."

"I ..." Jesse's looked at the faces that was looking at him and with a heavy sigh he said, "I guess so."

And with that promise, Chief Masters went over what the police knew and what they had to do to try and keep Mark from harm.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


	5. Harry is Harry, but Where is Steve?

**Chapter 5: Harry is Harry, but Where is Steve?**

After storming out of Madison's office, Mark headed for the morgue. After making sure that Amanda and Jesse weren't anywhere to be seen, he slipped in and pulled out the drawer with Harry's body on it.

Reaching out, Mark pursed when his hand brushed against Harry's hair. Swallowing hard, Mark shook his head and reminded himself that this wasn't Steve. Carefully, he tilted Harry's head and looked behind the right ear. He was right. This is Harry, not Steve. Steve never had the birth mark behind his ear. Harry's was just like his mother's, shaped like a small heart, on the back of the ear lobe.

"Harry, I'm so sorry, son. So, so, sorry that this happened to you. You never did have an easy life and if I or your mother could have done anything differently, I'm sure we would have, but we had no other choice but to give you up. Maybe...maybe I made a bad choice by keeping you a secret, but I just couldn't tell Steve that his mother and I gave up his twin brother. I just couldn't and because of that, you and Steve never meet and now, now everyone thinks I'm going mad with grief over Steve's death and I still can't tell them the truth. I'm so ashamed of what I did to you, but I feel even worse about what I'm about to do, but it can't be helped."

With that, Mark moved Harry's body onto a gurney and wheeled him out of the morgue. With the body covered up and the nursing staff use to seeing Dr. Mark Sloan do some strange things no one stopped him. Not even when he wheeled the gurney out of the hospital and into a waiting ambulance. Mark then drove off. He didn't know where Steve was, but he was sure Harry's body would hold the answer. He just prayed he wasn't too late.

Amanda, Jesse, Madison and Chief Masters sat silently watching as the security footage showed Mark walking away with the body. Amanda just couldn't believe mark would go to these lengths as to steal a body to prove himself right.

She had come in early to go over her findings yet again, just in case she had missed something, anything, but was shocked to find Steve's, or Harry's, body, missing. Amanda went straight to the main security room and viewed the tapes.

She couldn't describe how shocked she was to see Mark, her mentor and friend, doing what he was doing. At first she called Jesse, who, after viewing the footage, called Madison. To protect Mark's reputation Madison then took the tapes to her office and from there they called Chief Masters in.

Even after seeing the footage four or five times, Amanda and Jesse still couldn't believe what they were seeing. Madison paused the tape as it showed the tail lights of the ambulance pulling away. Shaking their heads, Amanda and Jesse turned to face Madison and Chief Masters.

"What now?" Jesse asked, as he glanced back over his shoulder at the paused picture.

"We need to go over all the details you have, Doctor Bentley," Chief Masters replied.

"Fine, but I don't know what it's going to tell us!" Amanda said as she placed the file on the desk.

"I don't know Mark well and Steve even less, but are you sure there isn't anything that wasn't...Steve?" Madison asked as he laid out the pictures and files on the desk for everyone to see.

"I don't know," Amanda replied shaking her head as she picked up her report. "The body was badly damaged so a lot of the scars and Steve's birthmark were destroyed. I could only go on the injury to his left temple where he was hit a few weeks ago. I did find something strange in his blood work though. It was like, some of his cells had been fused together, but I just put that down to the heat of the blast he was caught in."

"Cells...that had been fused together?"

"Yes, Doctor Madison, the cells were fused together, why?"

"It might not be because of the heat, but rather from the cold."

"You mean...like the body had been frozen." Jesse added as he got where Doctor Madison was going with this.

"Yes, Harry could have been dead for weeks, kept in a freezer and then thawed out. It could have easily been Steve that entered that building and ..."

"And he was kidnapped from the inside and Harry's body was placed in a spot to take the full force of the blast," Chief Masters finished off.

"So then Mark was right, Steve is most likely alive," added Amanda. "But then again, I still can't dismiss the fact that everything points to that being Steve in my lab."

"Not everything," Jesse said. They turned to find him holding the autopsy report.

"What do you mean, Doctor Travis?" Chief Masters asked.

"Here," Jesse took out one of the photos. "I've treated Steve so many times that I know every inch of his body and this heart shaped birth mark on the back of this ear lobe…Steve's never had one. At least not there," Jesse continued as he pointed to the mark behind Harry's ear.

"I guess I've never gotten that close to Steve to see it before. So this is the proof we needed to prove Mark isn't mad?" Amanda asked looking straight at Chief Masters.

"It still means that Doctor Sloan could still be in the line of fire. Especially if he can prove that's not Steve."

"But there is a good chance that Steve is still alive, too."

"How do you figure that, Jesse?" Amanda asked.

"Well, who would go through such lengths to fake the death of a dead man? Nobody! But, they would fake a man who is very much alive but that they don't want people looking for them."

"That's why Doctor Sloan needs to think he's the only one who thinks that Sloan is alive. If these people know that others are on to them, they will kill Sloan and we will never see him again."

Even though Amanda and Jesse didn't liked it, they had to agree that Chief Masters was right and for the sake of Steve and Mark, they had to keep it to themselves.

**Thank you for reading and reviewing my story.**


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